


About A Girl That I Once Knew

by BrilliantlyHorrid



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Coulson loves Skye in every decade, F/M, Fanboy Phil Coulson, Lots of Lola, Skye has a lot to process, So many paradoxes, The 90s, Time Travel, Tinkering with history/canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-10
Updated: 2015-02-10
Packaged: 2018-03-11 10:24:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3324074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrilliantlyHorrid/pseuds/BrilliantlyHorrid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When confronted with an ancient artifact, Skye manages to save Coulson, but gets sent back in time in the process. A bit out of her element, she tries to get back to her time without giving her identity away. Or, you know, destroying the future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	About A Girl That I Once Knew

**Author's Note:**

> Time travel time! Inspired by other time travel stories, and pictures of younger Clark Gregg. Who is adorable, but suffers from some 90s styling. A bit silly, but fun, this took me for freaking ever. Enjoy!

_I can stop it_ , Skye thought, watching the stone dial in the center of the room begin to slowly turn. _I can stop all of this._ They were in a deep cavern in the woods, one that had been a bitch to find behind the trees and rocky landscape. The artifact itself looked much older than it was, but ancient or not, Skye knew two things about sundials: They were supposed to be visible to the sun, and they weren’t actually supposed to move.

Dashing toward it, Skye vaguely heard Coulson shouting across the space, probably telling her not to do whatever stupid thing she was about to do. It was a moot point, as the breath was knocked out of her and she was tossed to the floor by a Hydra agent. Growling in frustration, Skye sent a shockwave through the ground at his feet, straight at the rotating artifact or machine or whatever. It cracked down the middle on impact, crumbling to the floor, and Skye let out a whoop of triumph. Whatever Indiana-Jones-booby-trap mechanism that was meant to set off was dunzo, and the other two Hydra agents that followed them in there had been incapacitated by Coulson and Bobbi.

Grinning at the Director, Skye gestured to both the unconscious Hydra lackey she had stopped and the destroyed dial. “Did you see that?” Coulson sent her an ‘I’m humoring you,’ smile as he caught his breath, and Bobbi grinned back.

“That was awesome,” she told Skye encouragingly, cuffing the downed assailants. Coulson walked over to Skye and gave her a hand up.

“Impressive,” he told her curtly, and Skye rolled her eyes.

“Look at you with the overflowing compliments, Boss,” she smiled, and could practically feel his eyes looking for signs of injury or fatigue. “I’m fine,” Skye told him, brushing imaginary dirt off of her knees, and Coulson looked at her, puzzled. “You wear your heart on your face.”

That earned her one of those little smiles she enjoyed so much, valuable in their rarity lately. It was smirky but not really, missing that ‘Too cool/professional to genuinely smile’ snark the Director adopted so often. Skye liked him like this, he looked _happy_ , with actual smile lines and not frowny ones.   

“We should check to make sure the mechanism is stable,” he said, moving on from the smile and stepping toward the broken dial.

 _Is that..._ Skye watched him walk away gingerly. “Are you limping?” She followed close on his heels, seeing his shoulder tense up.

“I’m fine,” he told her, continuing on his path. Skye sighed, exasperated. “I heard that,” Coulson muttered. Skye smiled and caught up with him, not difficult in his current state.

“Really though, what happened? I didn’t get you, did I?” Her tone was humorous, but Skye was concerned she had gotten carried away and somehow injured her boss. _He totally wouldn’t tell me if I did either,_ she thought ruefully. The last thing Coulson would want to do is make her feel bad about her abilities.

“No,” he said gruffly, and his annoyed tone told her that maybe she had been wrong, and it wasn’t her fault.

 _Or he’s in a_ really _bad mood._

“Coulson…” Skye’s warning tone caused Coulson to stop and give her a petulant look. She raised an eyebrow.

“I’m fine, I just...fell,” he nodded in the direction of one of the Hydra operatives. “He got a good hit on my ankle.” Skye’s face must have betrayed her surprise and amusement--Coulson had taken much worse beatings than that, _now_ he was limping?-- because he turned back to the dial, annoyed. “Guess my bones aren’t what they used to be,” he muttered, and if possible Skye’s eyebrows shot up even higher.

“Oh yeah, you’re ancient, AC.”

“Stop,” he told her quietly.

_Is he actually bothered by that?_

“I’m joking, Coulson, obviously you’re not--”

“No stop,” he said, holding up a hand. “What is that?” Skye peered over his outstretched arm in front of her, at the rubble where the sundial had been.

“Hold on, is it...glowing?” Against all instincts, she leaned in for a closer look, but to her credit Coulson got even closer. Then the glow got bigger. “Shit!” _Something bad is going to happen now, isn’t it._

“What the hell is that?” Bobbi’s concerned voice rang out behind them, but like someone standing in the path of a tidal wave, Skye couldn’t bring herself to look away.

“What--?” Coulson’s eyes widened but he had yet to move out of the way. Watching the brightness coming out from the rocks spread, Skye did the only thing she could think of.

“Move!” Grabbing Coulson by the back of his shoulders, Skye threw him away from the area as hard as she could.

Then everything went white.

***

 _What...the hell just happened?_ Skye opened her eyes, groaning at the bright sunlight above her.

 _Wait...sunlight?_ Sitting up too quickly she grabbed her head, registering that her face and hair felt gritty. _Give it a minute_. Taking a few deep breaths, Skye let herself adjust to the brightness and looked around. She was in the woods, in the center of what looked like a decent-sized crater.

“What the hell?” The cavern was gone, but judging from the surrounding area, that’s where it was supposed to be. Peering at her hands, Skye saw the cause of her grittiness: she was literally covered head to toe in dust and dirt. _Did I disintegrate the fucking cave?_

Speechless, Skye wondered how on earth she managed not to get crushed to death. Her chest constricted. _Coulson_. “Coulson!” She yelled, looking around wildly. “Bobbi?” Around the perimeter of the crater were piles of rocks, but nothing that could conceal a person. “Where did you go?” Remembering to breathe, Skye tried to get her bearings.

Did the object explode and destroy the cave? Did she do it, and her memories were fuzzy? _But that doesn’t explain what happened to the others._ She closed her eyes and counted to ten.  “Okay, Skye, what happened?”

“That’s what I’d like to know, actually.”

 _He’s alive._ Skye’s eyes shot open and she turned around quickly looking up at the man behind her. Her relief was short lived, however, when she took a closer look. _Wha--?_

“I’m Agent Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division,” he said from the edge of the crater, showing her his badge. “I’d like to ask you a couple questions about, well, I’m sure you can take a guess.”

“No way,” Skye uttered. “What is happening?” Phil Coulson stood ten feet away from her, but it was not _her_ Coulson. _The suit. The hair?!_ The Coulson standing here had to be at least 15-20 years younger than the man she knew, judging by his wardrobe ( _smaller budget, out of style_ ,) hair ( _more of it?_ ) and laugh lines ( _gone_.) This Coulson adopted a concerned expression and stepped closer, and Skye looked away, “ _Don’t freak out, don’t freak out, don’t freak out_ ,” she told herself under her breath.

“Are you okay?” His voice sounded worried, close enough to her Coulson’s ( _I’m sorry, what do you expect me to call him?_ ) tone, but with enough detachment to give her the heebie jeebies.

 _He has no idea who I am_ , she thought blankly.

“‘Skye?’” Her head shot up, but she didn’t see the recognition she thought she would. Just someone trying to figure out a puzzle. “You asked, ‘What happened, Skye.’ Is that your partner? Are you alone?” Still baffled, Skye couldn’t look away. It was like staring into the eyes of Bizarro Coulson: unmistakably him, but clearly younger, missing some wrinkles, a couple gray hairs--

_And every memory of who I am._

"Or were you just talking to the..." Bizarro Coulson pointed upward, either a tad uncomfortable at her silence or making a lame joke.

“Where are we?” Skye asked, and he seemed relieved to be getting at least some response out of her. He told her they were in the same New England forest where she had been not 10 minutes ago. _Would it be a total cliche to ask what year it is?_ Deciding that would probably get her locked up, Skye deliberated. “Can I see your badge again please?” Giving her a confused but not defiant expression--one that was so Coulson she wanted to shake him and tell him to _stop that, he was freaking her out_ \-- Younger Coulson took out his SHIELD badge and handed it to Skye.

Holding the leather in her hands, Skye had a bizarre moment of deja vu, and found herself swallowing heavily.

_‘Welcome to SHIELD, Skye.’_

Opening the badge, she looked at the information:

 _Phillip J. Coulson, blah blah...Issue date_. Assuming the SHIELD system of renewing badges every four years was still in place, Skye was now standing with Director-- _Agent_ Coulson sometime between 1995 and 1998. It looked shiny and new, so she guessed closer to 95.

“Holy shit.”

“I beg your pardon?” Looking up, Skye noticed a slightly scandalized and peeved expression on Coulson’s face.

“Sorry, not very ladylike of me,” she told him, and he smirked.

“No, it’s fine. If anything the filthy mouth makes sense,” he said looking over her appearance, so smoothly she _almost_ didn’t realize she was being insulted. “It goes with the general,” he gestured at her dirt-covered person, and now Skye got the chance to be annoyed.

“Okay, we get it.” Returning his badge to him, Skye noticed he seemed to be waiting for something. “Oh, yeah, you’re probably wondering about all this. Would you believe--” _No, he wouldn’t._ “Ah, would you believe that I have no idea either? Like, literally no clue.” She watched him hopefully, but he seemed to look at her even more strangely now. _Am I talking like a 2000s person? I so am, shit. How am I supposed to talk like it’s 1995? I don’t even remember where I was-_ -Skye froze.

If she was in 1995 now? Somewhere, ‘Mary-Sue Poots’ was about six years old. Suddenly the implications of her situation began to hit her, and Skye felt the need to sit down. Apparently seeing the color drain out of her face, Agent Coulson put a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” He gently turned her face to look at him, and Skye started to feel overwhelmed. She wasn’t sure if she was going to hyperventilate or pass out or cry, but all three happening would not shock her at that point. Agent Coulson’s mouth formed a thin line, and he slowly put an arm around her shoulder to support her, seemingly ready to back off immediately if she reacted poorly. “Why don’t we get you cleaned up and talk about this later, okay?” Skye nodded absently, and together they walked over to one of three parked SHIELD SUVs.

 _Vans_ , Skye corrected herself, nearly laughing out loud. _SHIELD 90s vans._

_What the hell have I gotten myself into?_

***

Skye headed down the quiet hall of the small SHIELD base, trying to remember the directions Coulson gave her from the locker room. She felt a little silly, walking through the professional building in regulation SHIELD sweatshirt and sweatpants ( _Vintage_ , she thought, throwing them on. _Maybe I can keep them_. She grimaced.)

The base was secure but not fully staffed, with just one agent keeping watch full time while others (like Coulson and the four agents accompanying him) passed through when they were assigned in the area. The rest of the van ride had been sufficiently awkward, including Skye going a bit comatose with all of the possibilities that came with her being in the past. She had seen enough movies and TV shows to know that you shouldn’t change anything, at the risk of dramatically changing the future. But don’t they all end up changing it anyway? No one tells the story of the guy who went into the past and didn’t touch anything.

It was especially hard when Skye gathered herself enough to see Coulson’s other operatives and wonder _Holy shit what if they’re Hydra?_

_Coulson doesn’t know about Hydra._

_No one does._

Skye was in way over her head. On the one hand, she had an incredible opportunity. How many lives could be saved if SHIELD found out about Hydra’s infiltration 20 years earlier? So much suffering could be prevented, destruction averted. There was no way she could keep that to herself.

_But…_

Then there were a few other matters. _For one, who will believe you?_ Skye watched Coulson watch her in the back of the van, looking wary. She was a clueless, dirty young woman who showed up out of nowhere. If she told Coulson ‘Hey, I’m from the future, I know you and by the way, a nazi organization from the 40s has infiltrated your spy agency at the highest level. While I’m at it, would you like me to tell you where Captain America is?’

 _That would go over well._ But maybe Coulson would believe her. If he were _her_ Coulson, would he give her a chance? _But he’s not my Coulson--not that regular_ (she refused to say “old,”) _Coulson is mine._ But this one was not just physically younger. There were experiences he hadn’t had, people he hadn’t met. Technically he wasn’t the same person. At this point in his life, would Coulson risk his reputation standing up for her, without knowing a thing about her?

She contemplated using something from his file, or something he told her, as a hint. Like a code, that he could trust she was from the future and believe they were close. But apart from what she had seen in his file, she wasn’t sure what that would be. Considering the timeline, she absolutely could not bring up his father’s death. It clearly affected him deeply still at 50, broaching the topic now would be a guaranteed way to get shut out or locked up.

There was also the terrifying possibility that she could unmake her Coulson, change his past enough to change his future. _Then we might never meet._

_Then he might not die, genius._

_He might never have his mind messed with by SHIELD._

_We might never meet._

She had this debate about herself, as well. Part of Skye wanted nothing more than to steal a van, cross the country to pick up little Mary-Sue from the orphanage and run off together. She had a plan and everything. Using her knowledge of the future to make a fortune betting on everything from election outcomes to sports games. Letting her pick her own name again, wondering what she would choose since ‘Skye’ would be taken.

But that wouldn’t make sense, she knew. The second she messed with her past, she would _cease to be herself._

“I am in so far over my head,” she had muttered in the van, her face in her hands. A hesitant but warm hand landed gently on her shoulder, surprising her.

“Want to tell me about it?” Coulson had asked, and she almost snorted.

_Nice try Mr. Interrogator. Are you going to hand me a blanket and cup of cocoa next?_

“Not particularly,” she replied, and he simply nodded.

“Sure is quiet here,” Skye said, walking into the common room Coulson sat in. He looked up to acknowledge her presence, and was about to look back down at the file in front of him before doing a sort of double take. _Does he…?_ There was no way he could recognize her, right? But he was definitely staring. Skye cleared her throat, and his eyes widened and he looked at the file, shifting papers around.

“You cleaned up, good,” he said a little too casually, and Skye made a face.

 _Did 30-year-old Coulson just check me out?_ Skye had no idea what to do with that, but she pushed away the pesky (and inaccurate) part of her that somehow felt like she was cheating, or taking advantage of him. _If only you knew, buddy. What you’ll be dealing with down the road._

“Did you mean I clean up good?” She said cheekily, and thought she could detect a blush. It was almost too easy to get a rise out of this Coulson, Skye decided, sitting next to him on the couch. He shifted his knees slightly, and she frowned. He wasn’t even making her work for it.

 _Oh Phillip. When did you attend Charm School, Mid 30s? 40s?_ “What are you looking at?” She peered over his shoulder, and he closed the file promptly.

“I could tell you, if you tell me how you ended up in the center of a crater in the woods,” he said smoothly, and she thought maybe she underestimated 30-year-old Phil Coulson.

“I would totally tell you,” she said, reclining on the couch, arms across her chest. “But I can’t. I have no idea. One minute I’m in the cave, the next? Poof.”

“Cave?” Skye sighed, rubbing her temples. How much could she tell him here? Could she tell him she was from the future, or would even a SHIELD agent dismiss her as a loon? Skye tried to think what _Director_ Coulson would do, if confronted with a strange person saying she’s travelled back in time. He would be skeptical, undoubtedly, but hear her out, because that’s who Coulson was.

 _But that,_ she reminded herself, _was after aliens invaded New York._ When the impossible became plausible. Tell that to someone in the 90s and they would say you watched too much TV. Was Coulson a believer before the chitauri invasion? Before Thor fell from the sky? Before Captain America was dug out of the ice?

 _Wait, am I Thor in this scenario?_ According to Coulson, one night after Sif’s visit where he sat up with her in the MedBay talking about his incident with Thor, he confessed he didn’t believe him, not until the giant Asgardian monster tried to vaporize his van. _That’s it._

“Coulson, can I trust you?” It was a question she never felt the need to ask, but that was a different man, and she had to keep that in mind. Looking surprised and puzzled, Coulson nodded.

“Yes. Within reason,” he told her seriously, and she practically crowed.

“ _Within reason_? I’m sorry, your job is to make people feel safe in outlandish and strange scenarios and you say I can trust you within reason?” His ears turned a bit red, but he held it together.

“ _My job_ is to investigate, secure and, if necessary, neutralize possible and unusual threats to the country. And to be fair, I don’t know what you’re going to say. If you say, ‘Agent Coulson, can I trust you to not penalize me for the 18 bodies I have hidden away somewhere,’ the answer is probably going to be no.”

“Well, I guess my bodies will have to remain hidden,” Skye said thoughtfully, and he sighed. She knew that face, Skye thought. He was screwing up his mouth to say her name in that exasperated way, she just knew it.

But he didn’t know her name. His mouth opened, then shut, forming a thin line.

That had been another decision on her part, to omit her name. He hadn’t asked directly since she ignored him the first time he’d asked, and she wasn’t planning to bring it up. Who knew if that would even do any good. He had seen her, two decades before they were supposed to meet. Who’s to say she hadn’t permanently altered their relationship already? Skye pushed the thought away, nauseous just thinking about it.

“With SHIELD, you work with people who are...special, right?” She asked nervously, and Coulson sat up a little straighter. He was about to respond when a door opening and raucous laughter down the hall made him pause. It sounded like another team had stopped in, and that was confirmed when a man stuck his head in the door.

Skye felt her blood run cold, moving slowly like slush through her veins.

“Phil! There you are I was just--oh, am I interrupting?” The man’s eyebrows wagged, and it confirmed everything Skye feared.

“John,” Coulson said politely. A young John Garrett sauntered in, and Skye felt like her heart might climb into her throat and choke her. She looked at the floor, but felt the man’s stare as if it was physically touching her.

“And _who_ is this?” He moved to stand in front of Skye and held out a hand, forcing her to look him in the eye. Obviously there was no recognition on his part, which was such a bizarre feeling. She looked from his hand to his face, not sure what to do. She might appear rude to someone like Coulson, who had gotten along with Garrett in the day. As far as he knew, Skye had no reason to be offended, apart from his clearly suggestive tone. But mileage tended to vary in terms of how people felt about that.

On the other hand, if this man touched her she might either vomit or try to kill him.

Coulson, bless him, picked up on her discomfort, pulling Garrett’s attention to him with a question about where he and his team were coming from.

“She speak English?” He asked, and Coulson winced.

“So you guys were just gassing up and heading out then?” He asked with the tone that clearly said, ‘drop it,’ and Skye admired how even then Coulson had mastered the amiably dangerous tone he used so well on missions. Garrett took the hint, rolling his eyes.

“Sure, sure, I’ll leave you two alone. When you send her home, maybe try minimizing the SHIELD branding,” he said lazily, gesturing to her outfit. “I get leaving your mark, but this Phil? Is a little excessive.” Skye’s face burned, and she wondered how much accuracy she’d need to vibrate a man’s heart into cardiac arrest.

“Goodbye John,” Coulson said, less amiable. Garrett walked out, and as his footsteps echoed down the hall, Skye sighed in relief. Coulson turned to her, clearly annoyed at Garrett, but the look melted into one of concern when he saw Skye’s face. “What’s wrong?” He looked out the door where Garrett had left, slightly confused. “Did you--have you met before?” The worry was there, but lack of surprise made Skye curious. She wondered just what sort of reputation Garrett had back then.

Skye tried to shake off her alarm at seeing him, of all people. She shook her head, but could see Coulson wasn’t buying it. “No, no, he just...gave me the creeps,” she said, and Coulson nodded but still seemed skeptical. Skye put her hand on his arm, then removed it when she saw how caught off guard he looked. “Sorry, I just--everything’s fine, just being here is overwhelming.”

_I could tell him._

_I could tell him now that Garrett is a nutjob, or is going to become one._ If she stopped John Garrett now, Coulson would never be tortured, she would never be shot, and maybe Grant Ward wouldn’t be unleashed onto the world. But what else would change? Skye grew frustrated. What good was being in the past if she couldn’t do anything? _You say that assuming you’re here for a purpose_ , the dark corner of her mind whispered. _You say that assuming this wasn’t random, when there’s probably no point, and no way of getting back._

Next to her, Coulson cleared his throat. Tentatively he placed a hand on her shoulder, and Skye realized he was trying to be comforting. Picturing his face if she just threw her arms around him right now, Skye held back a smile.

“You were saying, SHIELD works with people who are gifted?” He asked, and Skye nodded. “You’re right, do you mind telling me what you know about that?” Looking back to the door (and realizing Coulson did not miss that motion one bit,) Skye tilted her head.

“Any way we can get out of here first?”

***

Driving off the base in one of the SHIELD vans ( _No Lola yet_ , Skye thought dismally,) she decided she needed to tell him something, otherwise she’d just be stuck here. “Look, you have to know that I trust you, but I can’t--” she let out a frustrated breath, trying to figure out how to phrase this. “I don’t belong here,” she said, pointedly, “I shouldn’t be here. I don’t know the specifics of how I ended up here, but I can give you the basics and we can see if I can’t get back, yeah?” Realizing she was talking in circles, she wasn’t surprised to see a confused knit in Coulson’s brow. His otherwise smooth brow. _This is so weird_ , she repeated to herself, for probably the billionth time. It was weird to admit it, because although she wasn’t digging the suit, and she kind of definitely absolutely missed her Coulson, young Coulson was _pretty hot._ Like super hot. Like, his face had this smoothness that made her realize that Coulson had a Superhero chin. _You’re staring._

“Why?” Coulson asked suddenly, turning to her briefly.

“Why...what? Why do I want to get back?”

“No, why do you trust me?” He asked her like it was the most obvious question in the world, and Skye supposed it was. “I’m not saying you can’t, but we just met. Or did you just mean you trust SHIELD?” He looked self-conscious all of a sudden, like he had assumed too quickly it was personal.

“No,” Skye told him honestly, “I don’t trust SHIELD, I trust you.” He looked baffled. “I don’t know why,” she lied somewhat easily, “but I do.” Miraculously, Coulson seemed to take this at face value, not arguing. He did look confused though. “I’m assuming you secured the crater after we left?” Coulson’s eyes widened slightly, but he kept them on the road ahead.

“We did,” he admitted, and Skye nodded.

“Your team will probably find remnants of an artifact, it looked like an old sundial. That’s the thing that brought me here. Who knows if it's even here, though,” she muttered.

“So it was an object? You didn’t…” he trailed off. “And now you’re looking at me like I’m crazy, fantastic,” he said sarcastically. Looking at her puzzled face for a second, he shrugged. “You mentioned that we work with people who are special, I assumed…”

_Oh._

“Oh! No, it wasn’t me, I can’t tim--teleport or anything,” she recovered, barely, but if Coulson was suspicious (if she knew him, he was,) he wasn’t saying anything.

“If you’re concerned about your powers, SHIELD could help,” he offered, but Skye shook her head.

“I don’t know if you know this yet, but not everyone is super keen on helping people like me. They prefer to…” _Cut us open. Control us. Experiment_. “Not be very nice,” she finished lamely, and Coulson looked sad. “Hey, hey, don’t worry about it, just I want you to understand why I’d prefer to keep my existence known to as few people as possible.” He nodded. “Plus, I’m not worried, I have a handle on my...abilities.” She was almost tempted to call it a ‘gift,’ pull a Thor and be worshipped like a god, like she was born for this purpose. But despite learning how to use her powers and be more comfortable with them, Skye still had yet to see them as a true gift. Something given out of kindness, without expecting anything in return. It had taken too much from her already.  

“Whatever formed the crater sent off these waves of energy,” Coulson said, pulling into a makeshift parking spot on the side of the road. “That’s how we were able to locate you. Was that the sundial, or you?”

Skye looked out the window of the van. They had parked near a lake, and whether it was the rural setting or the chilly breeze, but there was no one else visible in the area. Nodding her head toward the water, Skye raised an eyebrow. “How about I show you what I can do, and you tell me?”

There was no denying it then. The look on Phil Coulson’s face was positively excited.

***

Standing out on the edge of the lake, Skye waited for Coulson to give her the go-ahead. After getting over the giddiness, he grabbed a small device that would measure the energy given off by Skye’s powers, which he would compare with the readings from the initial explosion. Skye still wasn’t sure if she caused the cave to collapse or if the artifact did, so she was curious as well. She was also concerned about the timeline of the collapse. Was it only in 1995 that it caved in, or in 2015 as well? If it was destroyed now, then-- _Then will we never find it to begin with_? Skye frowned, shutting her eyes against the new wave of time travel logic that threatened to derail her current mindset. _If you get caught up in the details you’ll never get out of here,_ she told herself. _Focus on the task at hand._

“Everything okay in there?” Coulson’s voice, much closer than it had been before, snapped her to attention. Startled somewhat by her sudden stare, Coulson cleared his throat. “You, uh, drifted off for a second.” Watching him, Skye noticed that the mist around the lake had started to collect in his hair.

The hair. It was still so off-putting. Nice, she guessed, but she had the strangest urge to flatten it down a bit. Self-conscious, Coulson reached up and patted it himself.

“What? Is something--” Skye started to laugh, and he looked more concerned.

“No, no, sorry. Nothing, Coulson.” The words felt strange coming out of her mouth, when they weren’t directed at her Coulson. He seemed to notice this as well.

“You could call me Phil, if you want,” he said off-handed. At her startled expression, he explained. “I know it probably feels weirdly formal, the whole last name thing. This isn’t exactly a mission, not really. And, well, you’ve made it pretty clear you’re not going to call me ‘Agent’ anytime soon.” He smirked, and Skye felt conflicted. Coulson--AC-- actually inviting her to call him by his first name? Weird. And kind of upsetting. Also flattering, maybe.

 _It would make it easier to keep the whole, Director/My/2015 Coulson vs. Agent/Different/1995 Coulson thing straight_ , she reasoned, but it still felt off.

“You don’t have to,” _Phil_ said quickly in front of her, and Skye realized she had gone off on another little time travel tangent.

“Phil’s fine, thanks,” she said, and received a smile that made her swallow heavily. _Don’t do this_ , Skye, she told herself, turning back to the lake. _This has been weird enough_. “Ready to go?” Phil made a little affirmative noise behind her, and Skye looked out at the lake. Slowly, from the center outward, ripples started to form. Then waves. The lake, once barely touched by the wind, was now churning like the ocean during a storm. On the far shore across from them, Skye wondered if there were people she couldn’t see. Were there people watching this phenomenon and wondering what was happening?

 _Well, there won’t be any cellphone videos posted online tomorrow,_ she thought, smiling. That was a fun new freedom. Turning back to Coulson to see if he had gotten any valuable information from the readings, Skye felt her face turn red. The look on his face was one of utter amazement, like this--like _she_ was the greatest thing he’d ever seen. Because he wasn’t looking at the waves anymore.

Skye turned back to the lake. She had avoided thinking like this. She had tried to. No matter how much she tried to push them away, the ‘What ifs’ still bounced around her mind. Here she was, with Phil Coulson, minus a few years and, presumably, some hangups. And he seemed interested in her. Skye still wasn’t quite sure where she stood with _Director_ Coulson.

She always felt that their relationship was something more than purely work-related, obviously. She wouldn’t drive a stolen car into a road block or threaten to shoot her own father for a coworker. _Well, depends on the situation_. And she saw echoes of these feelings in Coulson too, from his own actions to just the way they talked sometimes. This was a little more blatant. This Coulson, Phil, was pretty clearly into her before she even used her superpowers. Or at least, he didn’t feel the same compulsion older-- _future_. _Familiar_ \--Coulson did to hide it. The blushes, twitches, throat clearing? They were endearing, but they weren’t AC. They weren’t expressions Mr. Charm School would let slip so easily, given his habits of keeping his cards close to his chest, even with her.

 _But I like his hang ups_. This Coulson was fine, and she would try not to make things weird, but the bottom line was that seeing him look at her like that only made Skye miss her Coulson more. Because he might look at her like she’s amazing now, but he didn’t really know her. The waves in front of her began to die down. Behind her, Coulson fiddled with the device. Skye felt a little ache in her chest.

She missed her home.

***

Heading back to the base, the van ride was quiet. Coulson-- _Phil_ , Skye corrected-- had practically squealed upon watching Skye use her powers, but soon mellowed out. Even if he didn’t really know her, he could tell something wasn’t sitting right. He cleared his throat.

“We’ll get you back,” he told her quietly, and Skye smiled at him, grateful. His voice held that blind optimism her Coulson had, and even though he got flack for his “never say die” (sometimes literally,) attitude, there was never a moment where Skye doubted him.

 _Let’s hope 30-year-old Coulson is right too_. Maybe the confidence came from never being wrong in his earlier years? Skye hoped so. Reaching over to the radio, she turned the dial looking for a station. They listened to a few classic oldies ( _Well, not so old,_ ) before Skye switched to an _actual_ oldies station. Listening for a few beats, Skye started laughing. Coulson looked at her like she was a bit crazy.

“What?” He asked, missing something. Skye gestured to the speakers.

“Coulson, it’s...you know. You _have to know_.” He looked at her, clueless. _He doesn’t know._ Skye wasn’t sure what was real anymore.

“What? Sarah Vaughan? I mean, I like her.” He seemed to be searching for the connection and Skye sighed, dismayed. “Is she a favorite of yours?” Phil was picking up on how important this was, so she decided she should probably give up.

“No, just, I like the song. It’s…” she struggled for an explanation, then just put on her casual face. “Sorry, I guess it’s an inside joke, that wasn’t--don’t worry about it.” Not having it, Phil turned the radio up, concentrating.

_Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets_

_Take off your coat, don't you know you can't win_

_You're no exception to the rule_

_I'm irresistable you fool_

****  


“Are you trying to seduce me?” He asked, jokingly and Skye barked out a laugh.

“Yeah, if I were the least subtle person on the planet,” she scoffed, and Phil grinned. “It’s nothing, really Phil. Just a silly song,” she said. He nodded, but after a couple beats got a look on his face. He opened his mouth then closed it a few times, smiling like he was going to ask something he knew was ridiculous.

“Your name isn’t--” Suddenly, a shrill ringing noise interrupted the silence, and Skye flinched.

“These cellphones,” she groaned, staring at the clunky piece of metal. Sure, SHIELD had advanced their tech beyond what the general public could buy, but it was nothing compared to what was available now. _Maybe I could provide a few early tech advancements_...she thought, but quickly dismissed it. _No Skye, that’s how we wind up with a sentient robot army._

Phil smiled at her curiously. “What, they don’t have these where you’re from?” She raised an eyebrow, and he gave her an innocent face she didn’t buy for a second. He picked up the phone. “This is Coulson.”

Skye watched as his eyes widened, before he schooled his face into its impassive mask. He let out a few clipped “Affirmatives,” before a “Yes Sir,” that made Skye’s own surprise become apparent. Phil hung up, looking confused and slightly agitated. “The Director of SHIELD wants to meet you,” he told her. “Weird, right?”

“He knows I’m here? How--?”

Coulson shrugged, eyes on the road. “I guess Garrett mentioned it,” he said distastefully, “apparently you made an impression.” He looked over, apologetic. Skye hoped the revulsion on her face seemed warranted.

“Does he often get involved in other agents’ business?” The question was beginning to enter dangerous waters, and Skye wondered if maybe she was counting on Coulson being observant more than she wanted to admit. _I can’t change the future_ , she told herself again, for possibly the millionth time.

“John is...” Phil sighed. “He likes to stir things up.”

“Like personally or professionally?” Was Garrett just being a skeeze, and giving Phil crap for having her around, or was he somehow able to tell… “I just mean, do you think he knew about the ‘special’ thing, or is he just being like, a bro?” Phil looked at her, baffled, and Skye decided she was sick of the time travel cliches. “A-- a _guy_ , giving you a hard time for having me around, implying... _things_ to your boss to embarrass you.”  

Phil scoffed, pulling into the base garage. Parking the van he turned to her, raising an eyebrow. “Why on earth would I be embarrassed to be seen with _you_?”

“Oh come on,” Skye groaned into the dashboard, missing Phil’s extremely put out expression.

***

“You want to tell me what the hell you’re doing here?”

After some reluctance, caught between his need to follow orders and his desire to not leave Skye alone, Phil had left the office Director Fury had commandeered, to go ‘get a snack or something.’ Now it was just her and the man himself. Skye had met him once, briefly after their showdown with Ward and Garrett, and she had to say that he looked pretty much the same. His clothes were maybe nicer, and his head was still shaved, and he still had that intimidating stare. The one that said, ‘You’re from 20 years in the future and I still know more than you ever will.’

_Does he know?_

“I’m not sure what I’m doing here, Sir.” He raised an eyebrow, and Skye cursed that she had responded more like a SHIELD agent than a nobody.

“Well maybe, the first thing you do when you do the time warp is contact someone who is actually equipped to deal with it, before you completely screw up the future.” Skye’s eyes widened.

“How did you--”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Fury scoffed, sitting at the desk and throwing his feet up onto the surface. “First of all, look at you,” he said, and Skye wasn’t quite sure how to take that. “Maybe you don’t see a difference, maybe Coulson doesn’t, but there ain’t nobody here that looks, talks and acts like that here. Not yet.” Begrudgingly, Skye nodded. She had seen plenty of 90s movies, and of course been there in her formative years, but she was a girl of her generation, and that had to be evident to someone like him.

“Second?” She asked, not bothering to argue.

“There was a power surge in an area we’ve been monitoring,” he told her, gesturing to the screen behind him. A map appeared, clearly of the area where she had found the dial. “Let’s just say we’ve been waiting for some shit like this to happen.”

 _Of course SHIELD knew about it_ , Skye thought. They just so happened to have a nearby base? Clearly Big Brother was just as active in the 90s as it was in the 2010s. Her brow furrowed. "But Coulson. I didn't think he--" Fury waved her away.

"That intel was clearance level 8, above Agent Coulson's rank."

“So why’d you send him?” Fury frowned, and Skye worried for a second she somehow offended him.

“He’s one of my higher ranking agents in the area,” he answered appraising her. His face went flat, and he looked pissed. “Do you know him?” Skye nodded and he cursed. “Goddammit, Phil.”

Skye started to get peeved. “It’s obviously not his fault,” she said, crossing her arms. “And I’m not an idiot, I didn’t tell him anything.” Fury stood, walking around the desk to her. Skye stood her ground.

“You didn’t? Nothing?” Skye shook her head, not looking away from his penetrating stare. Satisfied, he turned away.

“But, Sir, there’s something--”

“Don’t,” he told her harshly, holding up a hand. “I don’t want to hear it,”

“I know,” Skye said, frustrated, “I know, I know I shouldn’t change anything, but there’s something big and--”

“Did you understand me?” Fury wheeled around quickly and Skye recoiled.

_Yeah, he’s intimidating._

“I don’t care what you know. You might think you’re helping, but you’re not.” He stepped closer and this time Skye was ready, putting her hands on her hips. “Is there a problem?”

Skye swallowed heavily, realizing she was probably making a huge mistake arguing with this man, who could probably decide that instead of sending her back to her time, he could just make her disappear. No harm, no foul. She wasn’t sure he would do such a thing, after all, Coulson admired him so much. But if he thought he was protecting the world at large? She should probably be careful.

“I understand that changing the future is dangerous, but if you knew what I’m going back to--” She stopped herself, took a breath. Fury waited. “I just don’t want to go back knowing that I could have prevented a lot of pain, and a lot of suffering.” It was a bit like that question people get asked, she thought. ‘If you could go back in time and stop a catastrophic event, would you?’ People always say they would. But Skye had seen what sorts of terrible things happened in the world, and who was to say that preventing one disaster wouldn’t cause another worse one from happening? _This guy_ , she thought, looking at Director Fury. _Hopefully this guy says so._

Fury looked at her, giving nothing away. “Better the devil you know,” he told her quietly, turning back to the screen. Skye nodded, silent. His voice came as a surprise this time, since she thought the matter was done. “And don’t go shouldering any blame for it when I send you back,” he told her scathingly. “I’ll just go ahead and take that along with all the other crap being piled onto me.” Realizing this was how Director Fury did ‘comforting,’ Skye smiled nervously.

“Yes, Sir,” she said, and he nodded.

“That’s what I thought. Now, how much of a problem am I looking at with you meeting one of my agents, what, 20 years early?” He raised an eyebrow, and Skye shrugged, abashed.

“I...am not sure,” she told him honestly. “I mean, he sees a lot of strange things and people, maybe he won’t even remember me.” Fury snorted.

“Guy like Phil? He’ll remember you,” he said, and Skye felt both flattered and annoyed. “Could make you a risk.”

“Well, I don’t know then. I mean, technically this has all happened, right? I haven’t changed anything?” _Ow_ , she thought, wincing. _Time travel paradox_. “So, if this all happened, then he didn’t recognize me, or if he did he never said anything.” Fury looked skeptical, and Skye began to feel exasperated. “Look, I don’t know what to tell you. As far as I’m aware, there’s no way you can guarantee he won’t remember me unless you--” Skye froze.

 _Wipe it from his memory_ , a taunting voice whispered in her ear. She looked up at the Director, an edge of horror creeping into her gut. _Is that one of the memories they_ \--Skye thought she might be sick. _I guess he can guarantee he won’t remember me_ , she thought bitterly. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” she told him.

Director Fury nodded grimly and she wondered, impossibly, if he might not already know.

***

Standing in front of the excavation site, Skye looked over at Phil. He’d been staring at her. “Ready to go?” His voice was that funny mix of casual and meaningful, and Skye wondered for a split second if she really had to go. Just a split second.

“Very much so,” she replied. The dial had been dug up, and after describing to Director Fury what exactly it looked like when they found it (‘ _You’re going to build a cave?_ ’ She had asked incredulously. ‘ _Are you forgetting the part where we’re sending you back to the future?’_ ) he agreed to have it restored. Frankly it was already halfway there, they had to dig even deeper into the ground to find the damn thing, a cavern shouldn't be a problem. In the 90s it was buried, she realized, which explained both the crater, and why she had been covered in dirt upon her arrival. _It shot me clear out of the ground._

They were alone, a request Fury was more than happy to meet in the hopes of keeping the whole mess under wraps. They had also come in Lola, a request that was far less amiably met. First of all because the Director had no idea what she was talking about until she said ‘flying Corvette.’ He agreed, however, clearly getting the feeling from the girl that he would owe poor Agent Coulson a great deal someday.

For his part, Phil couldn’t believe their fortune. “Are you sure your powers don’t include persuasiveness?” He grinned, flipping on the thrusters that put them in the air. Skye just laughed.

Now they stood in front of the artifact, and Skye wondered if the deja vu was being induced or came naturally.

“Welp,” she told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s been...weird.” Phil smiled at that, but she could tell it was a bit forced. He (obviously) didn’t know what was said in Fury’s office, but along with his concerns that he wasted valuable time that could have been spent getting her back, he didn’t seem to want her to leave. Skye got that. She knew she was going back to her Coulson, her team, her family. To Phil, she was just someone suddenly dropping out of his life completely. Under really weird circumstances. She wasn’t sure, but Skye felt like he dealt with a lot of that. “Hey, no sad faces, alright?” He frowned.

“Excuse me?” Phil seemed indignant at the implication that he was personally invested in her case, but Skye didn’t let that bother her. She knew him. She knew it was a show.

“Yeah yeah, okay Mr. Tough guy, listen.” She told him seriously, nodding her head to the edge of the crater. “Take care of her, okay?” Now he really looked at her like she’d lost her mind.

“The car?” Skye winced. 30-year-old Coulson really had no appreciation, did he?

“Yes, the car, she’s special.” Brushing some pretend dust off his shoulders, she turned to face the dial. “So, you should probably--” her words were cut off by a hand pulling her shoulder, spinning her around until she was in Phil’s arms, and his mouth was on hers. Skye thought she just might malfunction. She kissed him back for just a beat, just enough for a hint of his tongue in her mouth before it was over, and she simply stood there, stunned. She looked up at his stupid, smug, nervous little face.

“Sorry, “ he said, smirking a little bit. “I was worried I might regret not doing that.” Skye nodded blankly, still reeling.

Leaning back a bit, trying to absorb the weirdness of what just happened, Skye rested a hand on the dial. It started to glow. “Uh,” she said, looking at the agent’s slightly concerned face. “Later Phil.”

“Bye--”

A flashing light blinded her again, before everything went dark.

***

“Mind if I join you?”

Skye nearly jumped, looking guiltily up at at Coulson from Lola’s passenger seat. She wasn’t expecting him to be done with his call so soon. “Sorry, I--” Coulson waved off the apology, opening the driver side door and sitting down. He sighed, leaning back in the seat. Skye smiled. “Did you miss her?”

Coulson turned his head to face her, an unreadable look on his face. “Very much.”

They had been back for a few hours, after what had been apparently a very frightening day. After the flash of light she’d seen, the cave hadn’t actually collapsed. At least not in the current time. As she gleaned from her discussion with Director Fury, she had not disintegrated the cave, it simply wasn’t there in 1995. Luckily, her powers created the crater to get her through unharmed. They could be helpful like that.

Not helpful? In 2015, the cave remained standing. But Skye had disappeared. That had been a tough pill to swallow. They had searched the woods, dug into the ground, canvassed every corner of that cavern and the surrounding area for almost an entire day. That was probably the most jarring discovery for Skye: it wasn’t some little mental, dream vacation or out of body experience. She was _there_. And luckily, someone had the good sense to piece the dial back together as much as possible. Maybe she could have returned regardless, but she preferred not to imagine the alternatives if the artifact had still been in pieces.

It was an awkward homecoming of sorts, since no one else was actually in the cave when she returned. Feeling like someone had thrown her against a wall, Skye had pulled herself out the tunnels, to the surface, where Bobbi and Coulson had gathered with May and Hunter, looking lost and horribly hopeless. Then they looked sort of freaked out, and at the time Skye didn’t really feel they had the right, considering her experience. Then she found out she had been _gone_ all day and Bobbi’s visible relief and Coulson’s ever-so-slightly-shaky hand on her shoulder made sense.

“Where did you go?” Coulson asked quietly, and at first she thought he meant when she had drifted off just then. But she remembered. For some reason--a few, really, Skye was reluctant to tell anyone (especially Coulson) where she had gone. Despite it being Director Fury’s call and not hers, she still worried what they would think if they knew. Knew she had the chance to change everything. She looked over at Coulson, resigned. She couldn’t lie to him.

“I went back in time,” she blurted out, and Coulson’s face went blank for a few seconds. Then the skepticism crept in.

“Skye--”

“I was in 1995. Or 96. Maybe 97? I’m still not super sure yet.”

Coulson turned to face her fully, looking less skeptical, but still very confused. Skye couldn’t stop now though.

“I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t do anything to stop Hydra, or New York, or TAHITI or any of it. But I _couldn’t_ , I wanted to so much even though Fury said no.” The words came out like a waterfall, and Coulson was basically gaping at that point.

“Ugh, but Garrett was right there and I should have told you, but Fury didn’t--”

“You saw Director Fury? You saw _Garrett_?” To his credit, Coulson looked like he was trying to understand, but Skye got it. It was kind of a lot. She nodded, waiting for him to catch up.

“Twenty years?” He asked weakly, and Skye nodded again.

“Sorry. It’s a lot to process, I know. Just-- I wanted to tell you, so badly, but I didn’t want to ruin everything.” She needed him to believe her, needed him to know that she didn’t take her decision to keep quiet lightly. And despite Director Fury’s generous offer, she wasn’t about to foist all of the blame on him. “I should have said something to you before, it was awful trying to hold it in all day.”

“Skye, it’s only been a couple hours,” he told her.

 _Oh. Right._ She was trying to think of a way to explain, but from the way his eyes widened, it looked like he already arrived.

“I was there,” he asked, but it wasn’t really a question.

“Yeah.”

Coulson shook his head, like he was trying to dislodge something. “But, I don’t-- I don’t remember…”

“...Yeah,” Skye said pursing her lips. Coulson looked lost, searching for all of the questions he had but unable to settle on one. _Been there_ , Skye thought grimly. “I wouldn’t have let him do it,” Skye said quietly, hoping Coulson wouldn’t ask her to explain. Hoping he already knew. “But I couldn’t do that without telling him what was going to happen to you in the first place. I am _so sorry_ , Coulson.” She turned forward in her seat, looking at the empty hangar in front of them. “There are so many things I wanted to do. For you, for me. I could have undone so many terrible things.” She pictured little Mary-Sue again, feeling a deep pang of regret. _I abandoned you, too._

“Who knows what else would have changed?” He asked her. “If you told Fury about Hydra, it would be a war, and this time we wouldn’t have Captain America on our side.” That brought out a small smile in both of them, so he continued. “If you told him I was going to get killed by an alien, well, first of all he might have you committed.”

Skye tilted her head. “I don’t know, he didn’t seem very fazed by time travel. And I could have told him where Cap was.”

“Because we had the tech to revive him in the 90s?” She finally turned to face him there, conceding the point to his raised eyebrow. “Did you think about…?” He nodded his head toward her, and she knew. He looked uncomfortable, like he didn’t want to pry, but Skye simply felt relief that she could talk about it.

“Oh yeah. Big time. But that was, selfishly, probably the scariest thing to change. I mean, she-- _I,_ could have avoided some shitty stuff, but then I wouldn’t be…” He looked at her in understanding, but there was sadness there she didn’t want to see. “I mean, I guess I turned out pretty okay anyway, right?”

“You did,” he agreed, reaching over and brushing her bangs out of her eyes. Skye leaned into the motion, unable to stop watching him. It was just so nice to see that look in his eyes, that recognition. However, both of them sort of came to their senses and straightened up. “So, what was I like in 1995?” She could see him doing the math, looking a bit awkward, maybe imagining himself at that age. Him at 30, her at 25. Maybe, to him, it would look better. Look _right_.

She needed to put a stop to that.

“Kind of a tool,” she muttered, and his eyebrows shot up. “What? Sorry, but you were like,” she blew out a sigh.

“I was what? Young?”

“Twitchy. Awkward. It was like, seeing Puberty Coulson.” He looked aghast now, so Skye decided to maybe go easier on him. “Sorry, it wasn’t that bad. You just didn’t have that _Coulson-ness_ you have now. You were way too easily impressed, for one,” she told him, and he murmured in agreement. “And you were completely obsessed with me,” she said nonchalantly, laughing at his incredulous face. “Oh, yeah, you had it bad.”

Coulson scoffed, but Skye could see an intriguing undercurrent of nervousness there. Nothing as explicit as she saw on Phil’s face, but it was there. “Did you show me that you could move mountains?”

Skye grinned slyly.  “Like I needed to. But I did let things get a little rough.”

Coulson gave an embarrassed smile, shaking his head. “I didn’t stand a chance against you.”

“Nope,” she agreed, starting to feel a bit nervous herself. _Didn’t? Past tense_. Deciding she needed to get the ball rolling, Skye steeled herself. “Phil had his virtues too, though,” she said, with a false breeziness.”

“ _Phil_?” Coulson asked, taken aback. And did Skye detect a hint of jealousy? Of himself?

_Weird._

“Made it easier to distinguish between then-you and now-you,” she explained, and, upon seeing the barest hint of relief: “Plus he sort of insisted.”

Coulson rolled his eyes, looking thoroughly done with _Phil_. “Uh-huh. Insistence, is that one of his virtues?” His brow crinkled, probably at the whole ‘his’ thing. Considering they were, at one point, the same person.

“That, and he wasn’t cynical. Listened to me and trusted me probably more than he should have,” she shot Coulson a look. “Sound familar?” He smiled. “He was definitely bolder though. No offense.” Coulson turned to face her fully, frowning.

“Excuse me?”

“You know, he was a go-getter. Not to say you’re not motivated or anything, but he...” Skye searched for the right words, enjoying this more than she probably should. _Is it still bad if you’re deliberately making someone jealous of himself?_ “He went for it.” She finished with a shrug, and Coulson’s mouth did that little down-turny thing that was more adorable than upsetting.

“Went for what, exactly?” He seemed to do some introspection at that point, maybe trying to figure out what Coulson at 30 would do when presented with a girl he was taken with. One who could move the earth and make him laugh and believe in impossible things. Looking maybe a little impressed with himself, Coulson’s frown began to fade. “Did he kiss you?”

“Mmhmm,” Skye murmured. “Just once though. Before I left. Took me by surprise, obviously,” she conceded, “but I guess he just couldn’t bear to see me go without giving it a shot.”

“Huh.” Coulson said eloquently.

“You could say he waited until the last minute though,” Skye mused, just realizing it herself. “He didn’t even try until he knew he was never going to see me again.”

“That was pretty stupid of him, wasn’t it?”

Skye turned to face him sharply. Coulson was looking at her, hands on the wheel. Like he wasn’t sure what to do with them. She had thought the words were coming from a confident place, but looking at him now, Coulson looked a bit lost. Unsure of what to do. Deciding she needed to help him out, Skye leaned over and kissed him.

As if she had given the go-ahead (she kind of did,) Coulson moved his hands to her waist eagerly, kissing her back. One hand moved to the back of her neck, and he sighed. Skye couldn’t help it. She laughed.

Coulson pulled away, looking flustered and a little offended. “What?” Skye shook her head.

“Nothing, sorry. You’re just a way better kisser these days.” Grabbing Coulson by the face with both hands, she pulled him back in. He responded enthusiastically, perhaps proving her point by dragging his teeth along her bottom lip. Skye (somewhat embarrassingly) moaned, running her fingers through Coulson’s hair. _Just the way I like it,_ she thought, remembering Phil’s somewhat off-putting 90s bureaucrat hair. As she caressed his tongue with her own, her other hand cupped his cheek, running her thumb gently over the crinkled lines next to his eye. The ones that were yes, always there, but more prominent when he was smiling. Often at her. _This_ was her Coulson.  

Placing one last, chaste kiss on the side of his mouth, Skye sat back. “Look,” she said softly, and Coulson serious face urged her to continue. “I don’t buy into that fate or destiny crap, not when it says that you don’t choose where you end up. But I’m pretty sure this was meant to happen again.”

Coulson smirked. “I was that bad, huh?” Skye hit his chest lightly, laughing, and Coulson reached up and threaded her fingers with his.

“Not bad, just...not you. Not yet, anyway.” Skye reached over and gently grabbed his other hand. “I wanted the guy who chased me into the caves in San Juan, and thinks outside the box and really, _really_ loves his fancy car.”

Coulson’s eyes practically twinkled, and Skye decided she really liked that look on him. She wasn’t sure what exactly it meant, but she knew she would need to see it as much as possible. The Director leaned in and kissed her again, slow and sweet and perfect. After, he sat back, and Skye leaned over the console to rest her head on his chest. Coulson draped his arm over her shoulders, rubbing his thumb on the fabric of her sleeve.

“So, this was in the pre-Lola days,” he said, and Skye relished the feeling of his words rumbling in his chest, against her ear.

“You didn’t even know who she was,” Skye whined, and Coulson’s warm chuckle made her blush. “Where did Lola get her name, anyway? Did she get it from Fury, or--” she was cut off by Coulson’s short laugh. She could almost hear the smirk.

“ _Director Fury_ , would not give a car a name.” He said, somewhat wistfully. “He gave me a pretty hard time when someone let slip that’s what I called her.” He ran his free hand over the wheel fondly, and Skye felt goosebumps creep up her spine.

“You named her?” She pulled away a bit, looking at his face.

He looked at her like she lost her mind. “Of course I did.”

“When?” Skye turned fully in her seat. Because there’s no way.

_‘Your name isn’t--’_

__

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered, and Coulson looked offended.

“You never had an issue with her before, why now?” Skye shook her head.

“No, no issue, sorry. Just, I don’t know, I thought Lola was like a legacy or something.”

“The car,” Coulson answered slowly. “But, I don’t know. I always liked that tradition of naming them and she--” he sighed. “Fury gave her to me after my recovery, I started driving and she just...felt like a _Lola_.” Looking nostalgic, he smiled at her. “That was the first moment after I came back that my head felt really clear. It’s obviously a beautiful car, but it’s that feeling I have, driving her.” He looked a bit self-conscious then, probably worried about Skye’s incredulous face.

Skye didn’t think she’d been that confused since 30-year-old Phil Coulson planted one on her in the middle of a crater.

“This was after your recovery,” she repeated, and Coulson nodded.

“First time I drove her,” he told her, then paused when he saw Skye’s face. “That wasn’t the first time I drove her,” he deduced, looking shell-shocked. Skye shook her head. “My first time was--”

“With me,” Skye finished, then made a face. “That came out wrong,” she said quickly, waving a hand. “It’s not like I went back and took your virginity or anything.” Coulson looked peeved. “Shutting up now.”

“You named Lola.” He seemed stunned, and faced ahead, looking at the steering wheel like he wasn’t sure where it came from.

“No, no, you named her,” she told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “It’s nothing, I just--that song came on, the ‘Lola song,’ and I was like ‘oh hey!’ and you had no idea what I was talking about, so I dropped it, and that’s it. It’s probably coincidence.” Her rambling over, Skye took a breath hopefully. “I didn’t even mention her by name to Fury, so it’s not like you heard it from him or anything.” Gently turning his face back toward her ( _Did I break him? Is he catatonic?_ ) Skye looked at him warmly. “You named her, Coulson. That was all you. I mentioned the name, but we weren’t even talking about the car.”  _And besides, that memory was…_ she frowned.

“Skye, it’s fine,” he told her quietly, eyes finally meeting hers. “I know I named the car, it just may not have been as random as I thought.” He smiled, but Skye couldn’t get over the feeling in her gut. It was a bit like guilt.

“But Coulson, that memory…” she said softly, really not wanting to bring it up again.

“Wasn’t completely erased, apparently,” he finished. The smile was back, that smug, _ha ha_ smirk that she had missed so much. “You’re supposed to name cars after beautiful women, so maybe that’s what I was doing without even knowing it.” He shrugged. “It makes sense you’d have some input, after all. After everything we’ve been through together.”

“The three of us?”

He nodded. Skye reached a hand up, stroking the dashboard lovingly. She really did have great memories with the car-- _This one included_ \--even if one was falling out of the sky after being kidnapped by a psycho. The idea that she had a part in naming Lola? That, without knowing, before he even met her, Coulson associated the best feeling after his rebirth with her? She sighed.

A hand snaked its way around her waist, and she could feel Coulson’s breath on the side of her neck. “You’re going to need to stop doing that,” he said lowly, and Skye felt a shiver go down her spine and pool in her belly. She bit her lip, trying (and failing) to look innocent, running her hand across the dash.

“What? I think she likes it.” His response was a nip behind her ear, extracting a squeak from the back of her throat. “Okay, okay, I think out of respect for Lola we should take this elsewhere, don’t you agree?” Coulson pulled away, and the look in his eye told Skye that she was onto something. Rather quickly, they both moved to exit, stepping out of the car and shutting the doors behind them.

“Your office?” She asked, heading to the entry to the Playground. Coulson grabbed her arm, pulling her gently.

“The one on the Bus has a bed in it,” he answered. Skye nodded.

“Closer, too.”

They hurried over to the bus, giving a half-assed assessment of the area to see if they were being watched. Heading up the ramp Skye pulled him in for another kiss, impatient. It was fast and dirty, and she could feel that _another_ part of Coulson was reacting enthusiastically as well. They nearly ran up the stairs, but before they could open the door to Coulson’s office, he stopped.

“What?” She asked, impatiently, already kicking her boots off.

He looked at her funny then, scrunching his nose a bit. “Did you tell 30-year-old me that your name was _Lola_?” Skye stared at him.

“30-year-old you _assumed_ my name was Lola,” she retorted, placing her hands on her hips. “What, do I not look like a Lola to you?” Coulson actually laughed, shaking his head and walking into the office. Skye wasn’t sure whether or not she should be offended. However, at that moment Coulson’s tie flew over and ended up draped over her shoulder, so she decided to let it go. _No time like the present,_ she thought, rolling her eyes at herself, thankful she didn’t say it out loud.

“Everything okay?” Coulson asked, but seemed to know the answer, since he was currently unbuttoning his shirt. Tossing her own t-shirt across the room, Skye locked the door behind her.

“Oh, we’re good.”

 


End file.
